Final KM: Tro-Bro Léon and Tour of the Alps Stage 1

We’re diving into a glorious Tro Bro Leon (there HAS to be a VeloVoices trip next year), and getting to grips with the Tour of the Alps (yeah we know it as the Giro del Trentino right?)

Tro-Bro Léon, Lanllis to Lanallis, 203.9km

I adore this race for it’s unrelenting brutality, for the ribinou, for the heart-achingly rugged Breton landscape, for the way it is raced with no quarter given, for the posters, and of course – OF COURSE for the piglet. There are so many stories that could be written around this year’s edition, but let’s start with the victory.

In a familiar scenario for the spring classics this year Damien Gaudin Equipe Cycliste Armée de Terre (yes, that is the French Army cycling team, and yes that is the rider who placed 5th at Paris Roubaix 4 years ago) and Wanty Group-Gobert’s Frederik Backaert attacked with 50km to go. Despite huge efforts by FDJ and AG2R-La Mondiale to chase them down the duo were clinging to 10secs as they gasped under the flamme rouge. Backaert jumped first, but Gaudin would not be denied and his victory celebration was pure joy. Benjamin Giraud (Delko Marseille Provence KTM) took the bunch sprint for third.

Pure joy from Damien Gaudin. He’s been training and dreaming of this race all winter – “It was my Paris-Roubaix 2017, and I do not miss. I prove that I am still there, that Damien Gaudin is still on the bike and that he still has things to prove. I think I have shown what I am worth on this race.” (via Direct Velo)

Tour of the Alps Stage 1: Kufstein to Innsbruck/Hungerburg, 142.3km.

Michele Scarponi gave his Astana team their first victory of 2017 and his first stage win in four years. Part of an elite group that formed on the final climb, the wily Italian bided his time and struck at the opportune moment to outsprint Geraint Thomas (Sky) and FDJ’s Thibaut’s Pinot.

Highlights…

Cyclamen jersey ahoy…

(is it just me or are all we all seeing Frankje the parrot on Michele’s shoulder?)